The Strawberry and the Lightning Bolt
by Talk Bubble
Summary: Hollows are appearing in Britain, and a few of the Bleach characters are sent to keep the Hollow population rate down. How will this affect the wizarding world?
1. Chapter 1

**Heeeey guys! This is a new fanfic I've been working on! Bleach/Harry Potter, because all the ones that I found are unfinished... So I'm writing my own.**

**Also, I want to stick to the original book script for at least the first few chapters, just to get the flow going. Then maybe the rest will be COMPLETELY of my own workings! ('cept the characters...)**

**This story takes place in the Arrancar arc of Bleach and the 6****th**** book of Harry Potter. ANNND Sorry if Rukia is OOC... ehe... and SPOILERS.**

_**Italics are thoughts! Also English translations.**_**||| Death God = Shinigami (if I switch between using the two, then its accidental! Sorry ^_^) **

It was a quiet, uneventful night on Number Four Privet Drive. Harry Potter was sitting in bed. Tonight was the night that Dumbledore would be coming to take him. He still partly blames himself for his godfather's death; but there were many other people to blame: Kreacher, for lying to him about Sirius; Bellatrix, for ordering him to lie; and Voldemort, for setting him up in the fist place.

Suddenly interrupting his thoughts, a deep roar came from outside. He bolts upright in his bed and looked out his window. There was nothing out there. The roar comes again, this time seeming closer. The black-haired boy gets up and heads towards the window. His eyes widen.

Outside was a huge monster, about the size of the house that he lived in with the Dursleys. It was covered in oily black fur from top to bottom, with a gaping hole on its chest. On its face there was a great white mask that looked like it was made out of a bone-like substance, with swirling horns on either side of it.

"What the-?" Harry instinctively pulled out his wand. He wasn't allowed to use magic during the summer yet, but this was important. Could this be a monster sent by Voldemort? He opens his window and jumps out, (no point in alerting the Dursleys by going through the front door.)

As he climbs down the wall of the house (with the help of the window ledges,) the monster turns its head towards him. He jumps down and points his wand at it. Its eyes widened.

"You can see me?" it asks him in a horrible voice. It sounded like two voices overlapping each other. Horribly contrasting voices that made your head hurt. "Hmm... You have a high reiatsu rate. You might be tasty..." it shifts its stance so that it is facing Harry, and eyes him hungrily.

_Great... Of all the near death experiences I've ever gone through, am I gonna die by being eaten? How cliché. _

Before Harry could think to wonder where the hell he had learned to use that word, the monster _thing_ attacks him. It jumps at him with the intent to dine, and the wizard raises his wand to retaliate. But before he could get any spell to pass his lips, there was an explosion of red light and the creature was sent backwards, hitting a light post and bending it.

"Harry, put your wand away, you aren't allowed to use it until the school year begins," says the familiar voice of an old man. Dumbledore stood, facing the creature with his wand pointing towards it.

"Professor! What is that thing?" Harry asks, running to his side. He keeps his wand clutched tightly in his hand just in case.

"I don't know; I've never seen anything like it before," the old man replies. This was new; something that the wise headmaster didn't have an explanation for. The monster gets up again, seemingly unharmed.

"That was a powerful attack; you have some nice reiatsu too. Looks like I'm going to leave with a full stomach," the creature says, slowly approaching.

"Might I ask what reiatsu is?" asks Dumbledore casually, as if they were having a calm conversation in a café.

"Reiatsu?" the thing lets out a bark of laughter. "Reiatsu is spirit energy. Most humans don't have much, and they taste like dry pieces of bread. The more reiatsu, the greater the taste." It sounds as if the monster was smiling, even though its mouth was hidden beneath its mask.

"Professor, the mask it's wearing reminds me of a Death Eater mask. Could it be related?" Harry whispers to the headmaster.

"Perhaps, Harry, perhaps..."

"What are you two blabbering about? Be quiet so I can eat you in peace!" the creature leaps at them and the white-haired old man raises his wand to defend them. But before he has time to strike, a flash of metal glints in between them and the monster, and the sound of something being sliced is heard.

When they look again at the monster, there is a slice in his shoulder.

"RaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaWR!!!" the monster roars in agony.

"Darn, I missed!" says a woman's voice. Harry turned towards it and sees a girl (probably a short woman) with hair as darkly coloured as his, dressed in black clothes (Japanese-style Harry thinks they are,) with a sword in hand.

Harry stares at her, and her eyes shift from the monster to look at him. Harry sees her anger (at the monster) disappear and get replaced by surprise. She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, a giant claw swipes at her.

Harry sees a blur and she's gone. She reappears next to him.

"What great luck! Two humans with high reiatsu and now a Death God!" he laughs, despite the great gash on his shoulder. The woman ignores him and raises her left arm, (her sword is in her right hand,) and points her index and middle finger at the creature.

"Hadou 31 – Shakkahou!" she yells the foreign incantations and a burst of red fire flies through her fingers at the beast. _(Blast Arts 31 – Red Flame Gun!)_

"Was that... magic?" Harry asks unconsciously. The black-haired woman doesn't reply, and instead jumps towards the incapacitated beast and in one swipe, swings her sword upwards and slices its mask in half. The monster roars furiously and then dissolves into sparkling particles that disappear into the air.

The woman lands without a sound and sheaths her sword. She turns around to face them. Harry feels the need to ask something, but doesn't know where to start. Dumbledore saves him by, instead, clapping.

"That was wonderful! Your swordsmanship is great! And what a great blast of energy; was that magic?" he congratulates excitedly.

"Thanks..." she replies awkwardly. "I don't quite understand what you mean by magic.... That was Kidou; The Demon Arts."

"It wasn't in English, was it? What language was it in?" he asks, not awkward at all.

"Japanese." She translates, "Blast arts 31, red flame gun."

"Care to explain for us?" he asks, a smile on his lips and in his eyes. As usual, he could work his way through a conversation so casually, that people automatically warm up to him. _He reminds me of Head Captain Yamamoto..._ was what was going through the woman's mind at the moment.

"Explain? Explain what?"

"What that creature was, for instance?" he continues.

"That was a hollow," she replies automatically. "A spirit that had regrets and didn't move on, and over time, lost its heart and became a monster. It attacks humans and other spirits to eat them."

Harry didn't know spirits could do that. He assumes that spirits would be different from ghosts. But something annoys him. That thing was probably once a human.

"So you kill them?" he asks, unable to keep the accusation from his voice. The woman turns from the old-man to look at him.

"No. My sword cleanses their soul of the sins they commit while they are hollow, and sends them to Soul Society," she explains.

"Soul Society?" questions the Professor.

"That's the place where all good souls go when they die. Heaven, I think you would call it."

"And who are you?" the old professor continues to interrogate her.

"I am a Death God," the black clad woman announces. Harry flinches. _Death god... sounds a lot like a Death Eater..._

"May I ask what a Death God may be?"

"Death Gods are the souls responsible for sending other human souls to Soul Society and cleansing the souls of Hollows," she explains. Harry looks confused. What was all this stuff she was telling them? How come they never learned about these things at school?

"Would it be asking too much if I asked your name?" he smiles and there is a sparkle in his eye.

"Ah!" she looks flustered, "N-not at all! My apologies for being so rude! I am Kuchiki Rukia! N-no, I mean, Rukia Kuchiki!" she bows to them respectively.

"Well, it is nice to meat you Ms. Kuchiki. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore." They both look to Harry expectantly.

"Harry Potter," he says, just realizing how dry his mouth had suddenly become. Dumbledore turns back to Rukia to interrogate her further probably, when the door to Number Four Privet Drive swings open suddenly.

"What's all this! Who's causing all this ruckus!?" Harry's uncle Vernon comes out fuming. They turn to look at him. "You! I should have known; you're always causing problems for everyone. And who's this? One of _them?_"

"Hello, Mr. Dursley. I've come to take Harry with me," Dumbledore smiles at the angry man.

"What? Well then, come in..." he says grudgingly, but happy that the boy would be leaving. Dumbledore takes the invitation and walks in, nodding slightly in Rukia's direction. Harry turns to look at her.

"What are you staring at boy!? Hurry up!" his uncle's voice came at him. Rukia smiles at him and disappears.

OOO

Dumbledore had informed him of Sirius' will and his inheritance. He now had the huge black mansion in his ownership; and, boy were the Dursleys upset about it. Then the professor had taken him to see a man name Slughorn. Supposedly he was an old friend that he wanted to recruit as a teacher; probably as the new DADA teacher. Then, later, he had dropped him off at the Burrow, where he would spend the rest of his summer.

Once there, he had greeted Mrs and Mr Weasley (and the rest of the family) and then gone to his room that he would share with Ron. Incidentally, Hermione was also staying over for the rest of the summer, (rooming with Ginny,) and the first thing Harry had told them was about the monster in Privet Drive.

"Harry, what did that woman call it? A hollow?" Hermione asks once he's done explaining.

"Yeah, she said it was a spirit that didn't move on and eventually lost its heart," he repeats.

"Do spirits just do that? Lose their heart if they spend too much time in the living world?" Ron asks, munching on some chips.

"I don't think that's it... They probably couldn't move on because something was holding them back. Anger maybe, jealousy? That must have ate away at their heart; literally," Hermione theorizes.

"But then what about the ghosts at our school; Are they like the spirits?" Ron scrunches his brow confusedly. "How come their hearts aren't being eaten away?" Hermione opens her mouth to say something intelligent, but Harry cuts her off.

"I think they're different; ghosts and spirits. Nearly Headless Nick explained it to me at the end of last year. He said ghosts are the wizards who are too afraid of death, and so they remain in the living world forever, even after death. Spirits are just the souls of the dead that wanders until they figure out where to go, I reckon." They all sat in silence for a few moments.

"But how come we've never heard of these things? Hollows and, what was it? Death Gods?" says Hermione.

"Maybe they don't want us to know about it; just like we don't want Muggles to know about wizards?" Ron suggests. Hermione and Harry nod.

OOO

"Rukia, how was it?" Ukitake asks once Rukia had returned to report.

"It was fine, the hollows were weak. But they were appearing in great numbers," she explains. "I also met these two people who could see me and the Hollow. They asked me something about magic..."

"Magic? They must be wizards then... Oh! No wonder there are so many Hollows appearing in Britain! That's the area that has the greatest wizard population in the world! They must be attracted to their reiatsu," the white-haired captain explains.

"...Wizards? Might I ask what they are? We didn't learn about them in the Death God Academy," Rukia questions.

"Wizards are humans who have great skill in using Kidou. They send their reiatsu through special sticks to make spells much like Hadou and Bakudou," the wise captain enlightens the younger Death God.

"What do you suggest we do?" Rukia asks, kneeling before the sick man.

"Perhaps sending a few officers wouldn't be bad. Would you like to go?" he asks the young woman.

"It would be an honour!" she exclaims, bowing to him happily. He smiles at her formality. He knows this will probably be more like a vacation to her than a work, so he decides to let her have some more fun while he was at it.

"I think we should also send a lieutenant, but since my squad is lacking one, I think you should take Abarai," he says, slowly making his way around his words. She smiles at him and he winks. "Go along now! And take whoever you like!" he smiles.

_I'm lucky to have such a great captain..._ Rukia thinks as she leaves to tell Renji.

OOO

After getting Renji, he and Rukia head to the living world to get some more people.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouts his name as she sees him walking with Orihime.

"Ah! Kuchiki-san! How are you?" the red headed girl chirps excitedly.

"I have a mission for you two if you are interested," she says.

"A mission? Is it related to Aizen?" Ichigo asks.

"No, but there has been a great increase in the number of Hollows in... Britain," Renji explains, hesitating at Britain, because he knew what was coming.

"Britain!? You want us to go to Britain for a couple of Hollows! Are you friggin kidding me!?" Ichigo began his banter.

"Come on! It'll be more exciting then sitting here and doing nothing!" Rukia shouted back. "Besides, if Hollows are regrouping there, it's only a matter of time before an Arrancar shows up!" That got to him. He fell silent.

"What about Karakura town? Who'll protect it while we're gone?" Ichigo asks.

"Urahara is still here," Renji suggests.

"And the Vaizard too!" Orihime claps her hands together.

"The Vaizard?" the two official Death Gods ask.

"We'll tell you later," Ichigo says. "Chad and Ishida are probably not coming. Chad went to Mexico or something for the summer, and Ishida I haven't seen for a while..."

"Ichigo! Orihime!" a woman's voice calls to them.

"Ah! Tatsuki-chan! Good morning! I'm sorry Tatsuki-chan, I have to leave again. It's umm... because..." Orihime begins to stutter.

"Related to Death Gods?" Tatsuki asks smiling. Everyone looks at her dumbfounded. "We suspected something was up so we followed you to that weird guy's shop and he explained everything," she explains.

"Weird guy?" Orihime asks.

"We?" Ichigo asks.

"Urahara was it? Yeah... he's weird... and it was me Asano and Kojima," Tatsuki answers.

"Eh? Keigo and Mizuiro!?" Ichigo shouts, not believing his ears. Tatsuki ignores him and looks around to see Rukia and Renji.

"It's good to see you Kuchiki. Nice to meet you," she turns first to Rukia and then to Renji.

"Ah... Hey, Arisawa-san," Rukia replies for lack of anything else to say. Renji nods to her, as surprised as the rest are.

"Well, if you're going to leave then it's probably for something important. See ya!" she waves to them and walks off, after high fiving Orihime for no reason, (its a friend thing...)

So they all left for Britain, (it was much faster through Soul Society than it would be by plane.)

**YAY! So there's chapter 1! WOOT! I hope you enjoyed. Sorry if the part with Tatsuki was really random. I just wanted them to know that their friends knew. Yeah...**

**If you have any suggestions or anything that you would like to see happen in the rest of the story, send me a comment, and I'll see what I can do! **

**THANKS! ~Me**


	2. Chapter 2

**Helloooo! Sorry if my updates are sort of slow; I'm still trying to figure out a plotline! **

"Harry, how was your summer so far?" Mrs. Weasley as usual is the merry one. She set the table with a much needed breakfast, and everyone dug in.

"I guess it was fine... it was uneventful..." he says through a mouthful of egg.

"Harry, don't talk with your mouth full," she scolds, waving a spatula at him. Suddenly the door opens up and a woman with blond hair walks in.

"Allo! Oh, Arry! Ow ave you been? Eets been so long since I saw you!" Fleur Delacour comes prancing towards him and gives him a big hug.

"Hey Fleur, how are you?" he replies awkwardly.

"Deed you know? Me and Bill are getting married!" she twirls happily, talking quickly in her French accent.

"Really? That's great," Harry replies politely. In fact he didn't know, because he had been too busy mourning for Sirius to send any letters to his friends during the summer.

"She has a running mouth that one..." Tonks, who was also staying with the Weasleys, smiles at Harry, pointing to Fleur who was now chatting very quickly . Glancing out the window, Harry notices some black-clad figures approaching on the mountains.

OOO

"Aijou, yuujou! Shiritai koto wa nandemo!" Orihime sings happily. _(Love, friendship! I wanna know what they mean!)_ **(A/N: sound familiar? Bleach opening 10 (or something...) Shoujou S.)**

"Where exactly are we going Rukia?" Renji asks.

"I'm following the reiatsu of a wizard I saw earlier," she replies.

"Wizard?" Renji and Ichigo ask. Rukia explains.

"Itsuka kokoro no oku no doa wo kataku!" _(The door to my heart is closed up tight!)_

"They are humans with an incredibly high reiatsu amount, who are able to use kidou with a lot of practice."

"I didn't know there was such a thing..." Renji commented, taking in what she had just said.

"Could that be what me and Inoue are?" Ichigo asks.

"That would explain a lot about where we got our powers. I mean, you guys said it yourselves didn't you? Humans aren't supposed to have powers! Perhaps that's also what Sado-kun is!" Orihime chirps, suddenly cutting off her merry singing.

"See! The reiatsu here is strong!" Rukia shouts suddenly.

"Hey, you're right!" Ichigo agrees. They are walking on a green hill, and in front of them is a small, but cozy looking house. They near it slowly, all walking calmly in their black shihakushous _(the clothes of Death Gods.) _Orihime had borrowed one so that she would fit in with the rest of them; to reduce confusion. Or maybe simply because it was comfortable.

OOO

"Who're those?" asks Ron, who had, apparently, noticed the figures on the hill too. He gets up from the table and walks over to the window. Harry follows.

"I think... that's the woman from last night!" Harry exclaims.

"The Death God?" Hermione asks, suddenly excited.

"Did you say... Death God? Is that like Death Eater?" asks Molly Weasley. Tonks pulls out her wand.

"No, it's different; she's a spirit!" Harry says running out to greet her. Ron and Hermione follow.

OOO

As the shinigami get nearer to the house, three figures come out through the door.

"Here, stop," Rukia holds out a hand to stop them. They are standing at the bottom of the hill, only a few meters from the house. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Potter." She bows to him.

"A, yeah... you too..." Harry replies, unsure of whether to bow back. It was odd having someone who looked so young call him '.'

"I've been sent here by my captain due to the increase in numbers of Hollow. Because of the great reiatsu that you wizards have, many Hollows will be attacking you. We have been sent to keep the hollow numbers down," Rukia explains to them.

"What? Hollows are going to be attacking us? But what for?" Hermione asks. Molly, Tonks, Fleur and Ginny stand in the doorway. "By the way, I'm Hermione Granger."

"Hollows mainly attack people with high spirit energy; wizards have great amounts of it," the black haired shinigami replies. "It's nice to meet you." She bows her head slightly, not seeing the need to bow fully yet again.

"But if it's true what you say, then how come hollows haven't attacked us before?" Hermione continues.

"Oh, they have. Hollows have always been attacking all around the world for ages. Us shinigami have been covering up for all the attacks. But now there are... problems, going on in Soul Society. The hollow numbers have been increasing; not only that, but their intelligence and strength levels have been rising. It's a bit much to explain all at once," Rukia explains apologetically.

"How do we know you aren't really Death Eater's in disguise?" Tonks asks warily, coming up to stand in front of the strangers with her wand pointed at them. "And what's a 'shinigami?'"

"Death Eaters? Forgive me, but I have no idea what you mean by that. And sorry for the mistake! Shinigami means Death God in Japanese. I'm not accustomed to speaking in your language." Rukia bows to them once again.

"How can you prove yourselves?" Tonks asks, still not letting her guard down.

"We –," Rukia turns to Harry for help.

"She saved us. She saved me and Professor Dumbledore yesterday!" Harry exclaims. "She's telling the truth about the Hollows; they're sort of like Dementors, they suck out people's souls. One of them attacked us yesterday and she slayed it." Rukia smiled at him thankfully. The pink-haired metamorphmagus slowly lowered her wand.

"Well then... If Harry says so, then I'll believe him, but I still don't fully trust you. I'm Nymphadora Tonks; call me Tonks." She holds out a hand for them to shake. Inoue steps forward, takes it and starts shaking it excitedly.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Tonks! It's pleasure! I hope we can be great friends in the future! I'm Inoue Orihime! But wait, oops, it's Orihime Inoue! Ahahaha, Kuchiki-san explained it before, that we're Japanese, and we slip up a lot while speaking English! I hope it isn't any bother to you!" The happy red headed girl rants on.

"Ah... It's no problem at all... You speak fluently though..." Tonks laughs weakly. '_We got ourselves another one with a running mouth now...' _she thinks to herself.

"Renji Abarai," Renji introduced himself without looking at them.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo went along with Renji.

"Well... I suppose you should all come in. We can't just stand out here for the rest of the day!" Molly Weasley said and ushered everyone inside.

OOO

Once everyone was introduced, Rukia got to the point.

"We came here to ask a few things of you. First, is there a place where we can all stay? Usually we would stay anywhere we could find, but since Wizards can see us I doubt we would be able to do that." The Wizards look at each other. They didn't trust these people enough to offer them a place in the Burrow.

"Also, we need to know where there is a large gathering of Wizards everyday, because that is the place where Hollows will most likely target," Rukia finishes.

"Hogwarts, is probably a place where there are a lot of Wizards," Ron pipes up.

"Hogwarts?" Ichigo asks.

"The greatest wizarding school in the world," Hermione answers automatically.

After a while of discussion between the shinigami and Orihime, it was decided that it would be best to go to Hogwarts with Harry and the others. With Hermione's help, they sent a letter to Dumbledore, and he replied, saying that he would come to get them right away and that he found this whole thing incredibly amazing.

A few hours later, sometime in the afternoon, the old professor came to get them, like he said he would.

"Oh hello Ms. Kuchiki! Isn't wonderful to see you again!" He greets in a chipper voice.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Dumbledore," Rukia replies, bowing to him. "The letter we sent explained why we are here. Is it alright if we stay at your school?"

"I believe it will be fine; and the protection against hollows will be needed if what you say is true. That hollows have gotten stronger and smarter recently." He nods his head, his crescent shaped glasses glinting in the sun.

"So how do we get there?" Ichigo asks, finally speaking up.

"We go by floo," Dumbledore answers.

"By flu? How do we go by flu!? Do we like sneeze, and the awesome power of our sneezes combined blow us there!?" Orihime asks, her imagination going wild. The shinigami sweatdrop.

"Ahaha!" The old wizard laughs merrily. "That would be quite an amazing ride, wouldn't it?" The wizards stare at him incredulously, all imagining the scene that the imaginative girl had described.

"So how DOES the flu network work?" Renji asks.

"Molly, may we borrow your fireplace?"

"Of course professor," Molly said and led them to where it was. Dumbledore pulled a small pouch from beneath his robes and opened it. Inside was some powder. He took a pinch with his thumb and forefinger and threw them onto the unused firewood, (it was summer, and a fire was unneeded.)

A great fire erupted from the wood and caused Orihime, Renji, Ichigo and Rukia to jump back in surprise. The fire glowed a greenish colour and didn't give off any heat. The old professor stepped into the fire and looked back at the surprised shinigami. The fire licked around his robes, but didn't burn him or light them.

"I'll go first, and you four will follow, by repeating what I say," he instructed them. "Hogwarts, Headmasters Office," and then he was whisked away into the fire.

"That was so cool... We're next! Come on Kuchiki-san!" Inoue grabbed the small shinigami's hand and they stepped into the fire.

"Thank you for your help," Rukia thanked the wizards, who nodded to her.

"Hogwarts!" Orihime chirped, striking a pose. "Headmasters office!" and they vanished also.

"I guess we're next," Renji states. He and Ichigo step into the fire. Ichigo waves goodbye to the wizards and Renji shouts, "Hogwarts, Headmasters Office!" and in a flash, they are gone.

After a long moment of silence, Tonks speaks up.

"I wonder if we'll see any hollows. We've never seen any before!" The rest of the wizards, save Harry, agree.

**Sorry for the total shortness. I just wanted to get this chapter over with so that the story could actually begin. So hopefully I will get the story planned out and update soon! Thx for all your reviews everyone!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hellooo! Back again with another update! Hopefully the story doesn't seem too fast... But I really want to get to the action!! Otherwise it'll seem to slow... Ahaha, see how that contradicts itself? **

**Just to refresh your memories – while staying at the burrow, the Hogwarts students received their O.W.L. results, and Hermione and Ron became prefects. (I'm going to skip over a few parts from the book because it would be boring since you guys should have already read them in the book itself. But the main storyline will still vaguely follow "HP and the Half-Blood Prince".)**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rolwing, and Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo! **

After being transported through the fire, the three shinigami plus one girl find themselves in an office unlike any office they had ever seen before. On one wall is a shelf cabinet with glass doors, revealing the contents, which are very odd trinkets such as small glass balls, statues of odd sorts, goblets of all sizes and many more bizarre things. Covering the remaining walls are portraits of many people, each with a name and year-dash-year underneath; informing that these people were all dead. What shocks the visitors is that the people in the paintings are moving! One painting is even lacking a person (there is only a purple background,) whereas the one next to it has two people who are chatting together.

In the corner of the room is a small table, with a stone basin sitting on it. Along the sides are carved symbols of an unknown language, which make it look exotic and ancient. It is filled with a substance that looks like water, but with fog swirling inside it, giving off a silvery sheen.

In the opposite corner is another table, exactly like the other one, on which is placed a bird cage; and inside, a beautiful red and yellow bird is perched. Its fire coloured feathers fit together in such a way that make it seem as if it was on fire itself.

A window is placed opposite the door, and in front of it is the desk that you find in all offices. On it are scattered papers, writing tools, and a small ashtray filled with candy.

"Would you like one?" Professor Dumbledore holds out the ashtray to his guests.

"Thanks!" Inoue takes one, but the rest decline.

"Take a seat." The old man offers the chairs. There are only two, and so Rukia and Orihime sit.

"I understand that you are in need of a place to stay while you are here?"

"That's right; usually we would stay anywhere we could find. But wizards can see us, so we would stand out if they saw us staying in a public place for the night," Rukia repeats her earlier explanation. As her eyes wander around the room, she notices that one of the old man's hands is black and withered.

"The students will be coming in a few days; you cannot stay with them since you are not students. Also, while you are here, please try to be a bit discreet, it is better if they don't worry about the hollows, especially since they are already worrying about You-Know-Who," Dumbledore sighs, losing his smile for a brief moment.

"You-Know-Who?" Renji asks the question before anyone else could.

"Lord Voldemort."

"Um... Who is that?" Ichigo questions.

"He is a very powerful dark wizard who is terrorizing England. He was thought to be dead, but only a few months ago it was revealed in the newspapers that he is still alive. In fact, Harry was there when he regained his power, a year and a half ago. He murdered a beloved student, and that, of course, scared everyone," Albus explains. The four friends share a look. This guy sounded dangerous.

"For now anyways, I could perhaps find two extra rooms for you." The old man smiles at them.

OOO

It was the first day of school and the train had just arrived. From their bedroom window, Rukia and Orihime watch as the students file into the school. Lost first years are being helped by the older children; friends are being reunited. Both girls are lost in their memories.

_This is just like the first day of school back home. It isn't all that different even though these students are all witches and wizards! _Orihime is thinking; and then she misses Tatsuki a little.

_This reminds me of when I was in the Shinigami Institute. I'm sure it's not all that different; children learning how to use their powers. _Rukia smiles to herself, remembering her first day of school with Renji.

OOO

"Hey look! Those two girls up there; aren't those the Death Gods we met the other day?" Ron points up towards a window were a red haired girl and a girl with spiky black hair are standing.

"You're right; what were their names? Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki weren't they?" Hermione looks up at them and smiled.

"That is scary Hermione. How do you remember their names so well?" Ron looks at her incredulously.

"I'm just good at remembering things," Hermione says happily, and waves to the girls.

"What are you waving for, there's no way they'll see us in this big crowd!" Harry laughs.

OOO

"Hey look! It's those guys we met before!" Orihime exclaims and then proceeds to wave back to Hermione. "HEEEEEY~!!"

"Inoue! Don't be so loud! People are starting to stare!" Rukia shushes her.

OOO

"See? They saw us!" Hermione huffs triumphantly. Harry and Ron try to blend with the crowd since people are starting to stare at them too.

OOO

The great feast of the return to Hogwarts went as it usually did. The sorting hat sorted all the new students into separate houses, earning cheers from the house members whenever a new First year joined them. The feast began, and then when everyone had had their fill to eat, Dumbledore stood up to make his beginning of the year speech.

"Good evening to all. I trust the food was to your liking?" the professor paused to watch the nodding heads. "Welcome to all the new students and welcome back to all the old! I hope your year at Hogwarts will be a good one!" Cheers erupted from all the houses.

"I'm sure you are all wondering who the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is. This year, our old Potions Master, Severus Snape, will be taking that job." There was cheering, mostly from the Slytherins, but most were shocked.

"Snape!? Snape is the new potions master?!" Ron nearly shouted.

"I don't like it either, but you know no DADA teacher has ever lasted more than a year. Snape'll probably be gone by next year," Hermione reasoned.

"Hopefully something terrible will happen to him... like Death," Harry glared at the hated professor.

"Harry! Don't say things like that!" Hermione whispered indignantly.

"And in his place, we have Professor Horace Slughorn as the new potions master!" Dumbledore continued.

"Maybe you two can get into Potions class now! Professor Slughorn might have lowered the requirements," Hermione suggested, instantly lightening the mood. **(A/N: In the book – for those of you who can't remember 'cause you read it too long ago – Harry and Ron can't get into Potions class because their O.W.L.s in it were too low. Without a N.E.W.T. in Potions, they can't become Aurors like they want to be.)**

From the corner of the Great Hall, Rukia, Ichigo, Orihime and Renji are standing, unnoticed.

"You think he'll mention us?" Renji asks.

"Maybe, I doubt it though; he told us to be discreet. So maybe we should stay unseen by the students?" Rukia replies.

"He said that we shouldn't scare them. Last year, if the principle at our school told us that we were going to be attacked by hollows, I probably would've been scared too. Ne, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime says.

"Probably," he agrees.

Even though they were hidden in shadows, a few students had noticed them. Students such as: Hermione Granger, who decided to say nothing since they obviously didn't want to be seen; Luna Lovegood, who smiled to herself; and Draco Malfoy, who thought he should probably tell Snape about them.

OOO

The next day, classes began, with the Golden Trio heading to Potions first. Potions class with Slughorn turns out to be a lot more interesting then Potions with Snape. The best potion made would receive a vial of Felix Felicis, a potion that makes you lucky for a few hours, as a reward. As it turns out, the textbook Harry had gotten from the Professor (because he hadn't bought it himself; he wasn't expecting to get into Potions class,) was very helpful in making a great potion.

The rest of the classes were about the same as usual, even DADA which hadn't changed much with Snape teaching it.** (A/N: I can't remember if anything significant happened in DADA that year... :o)**

The days passed by regularly, and the three friends hadn't seen the Shinigami (and Orihime) since the first day of school. A week after that, the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts were being held. Harry has been appointed as the new team captain, so he was the one who got to decide on the team members. After seeing all the students show him what they've got, he chooses the team members, including Ron and Ginny, who are now Keeper and Chaser.

"Alright guys, we're gonna practice together for a while now, then we'll call it a day," Harry called out to his newly formed team.

Soon enough, the first game was held, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. Most of the school had come to watch, including the majority of the teachers. They were all enjoying themselves, the teams (even Hufflepuff, who was losing) were having fun just playing the game, and the audience was cheering both teams on.

Of course, so many wizards gathered together, _outdoors_, away from the protecting walls of Hogwarts were bound to radiate a great amount of Reiatsu. So of course, the hollows that came weren't regular hollows, they were Menos Grande.

The shinigami **(A/N: From now on that includes Orihime,)** had anticipated this and were prepared. Screams erupt from the crowds and the players all freeze on their broomsticks. The four friends jump out from where they were hiding (being discreet wouldn't really matter anymore,) and stand prepared for battle.

"Is that... a Hollow?!" Hermione screams. She had been sitting on a bench apart from the crowds, near the team changing rooms, and had run up to them when she saw them.

"Yes," Rukia shouts back, and lunges at the creature, pulling out her zanpakutou.

"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji runs his hand over his sword, and it transforms into shikai.

"Are they all that big?!" Ron lands on the ground next to his bushy haired friend.

"No," Ichigo replies, and pulls his great sword off his back, the bandages flying off as if blown away by a wind.

Panic ripples through the students, and they begin to scramble around, trying to get as far away as the possibly can from the monster.

"NO ONE PANIC!" Dumbledore's voice, magically amplified, orders. "CALMLY MAKE YOUR WAY BACK INTO THE SCHOOL."

**So I'm gonna leave it off at that for now, because I got sort of stuck and just decided to put it up as it is. Enjoy :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry guys, but I'm not really getting into the story very much, and I really hate when I do this but I'm gonna stop this story. So it will go in the FAILED bin... sadly... I do this a lot... I really don't like doing this but sometimes the story just begins to BUG me. But since I had already had this written, I decided to put it up.**

The student are now gone, the teachers having led them away as quickly as possible. The only ones who remain are a few teachers including Dumbledore, the Golden Trio, and the Shinigami.

"HYAAA!" Renji shouts as he swings Zabimaru around and hits the giant hollow with his lengthening blade.

"RAAAWR!!" the huge creature roars, but the sword barely made a scratch on him. Renji jumps back and stands next to the two other shinigami.

"This isn't doing much," he comments. Rukia swings her zanpaktou counter-clockwise, a ribbon slowly emerging from the hilt, until it was pointing downwards.

"Mai, Sode no Shirayuki!" The blade, the hilt, the ribbon, everything was now a pure white colour.

"Your swords transform?!" Ron shouts, turning from Renji's zanpaktou to Rukia's.

"There are three different forms of zanpakutou," Orihime begins to explain, since she isn't fighting with the rest.

"What's a zanpaktou?" Harry asks.

"A zanpakutou is a Soul Sword; all Shinigami have different sword shapes and abilities. The first form is the sealed form, it looks like a regular sword; the second form is Shikai, First Release, where the sword releases part of its power, and takes on a different shape, like what they're doing now." Orihime points to the three shinigami to demonstrate.

"But his sword didn't change shape," Hermione points out, referring to Ichigo.

"Ichigo wasn't trained as a shinigami, so he doesn't know how to control his reiastu; his sword is always stuck in Shikai."

"So what's the third form?" Ron asks.

"The third form is Bankai, Final Release. That is when their swords are at full power; most shinigami can't use Bankai because it needs a lot of power," Orihime finishes.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" A wave of ice shoots at the Menos Grande as Rukia shouts the command.

"Rukia's zanpakutou for example, is ice based," Orihime continues to teach them. The ice freezes part of the Hollow, and it roars. A wave of energy starts to form in its mouth.

"Cero!" Ichigo warns. The huge red energy ball explodes and shoots towards them, making a noise that sounds like an untuned violin.

"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime's barrier appears and blocks the Cero, rendering it powerless.

"So what are your powers? You don't have a sword!" Hermione exclaims, deciding that it would be safest to stand near Inoue.

"I'm not sure; I got my powers just a few months ago," she replies, her shield falling away as the cero blast stops.

"Getsuga..." Ichigo begins to say as he jumps high enough to reach the Gillian's head. "Tenshou!" A blast of blue light flies from Ichigo's blade and hits the creature right in the face, slicing its mask in two. With a roar, the creature evaporates.

The Shinigami lands, and sheaths his sword on his back. The two others return their swords to normal and sheath them also.

OOO

"Albus, I believe we deserve an explanation," Professor McGonagall states. They were now all in the headmaster's office: Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Inoue, and the Shinigami. The old man sighs.

"Over the summer, Harry and I were attacked by a Hollow; if I am right that is what you just saw outside, only the hollow that attacked us was much smaller. This young lady over here saved us." Dumbledore waves in Rukia's direction, and she bows her head. "Her and her friends then were sent here to protect us against any other hollow attacks, like the one just now."

"You haven't told us everything, but I suppose that is enough. Now we should go help calm the students, don't you think Severus?" Minerva says, and she and Snape leave.

"Harry also said that the Hollow that attacked him before was much smaller; so then why was this one so big?" Hermione asks.


	5. Chapter 5

**I suck, I know I do. I'm sorry I put this story on hiatus! But hopefully now I will be able to continue it regularly! The updates might be far apart but at least I am continuing this! :D**

**I reread the past few chapters and realized that I wasn't too happy with them... But for now I'm leaving them as they are and continuing on. I will beta them later (I prefer beta-ing my own stories) once I feel like it; for now, just enjoy the continuation! **

"Harry said that the Hollow that attacked him before was much smaller; so then why was this one so big?" Hermione asks. The shinigami all threw each other glances before leaving it to Rukia to explain. Seeing that she had been named the group's spokesperson by default, she turned to face Dumbledore.

"Would it be alright if I borrowed a paper and a quill?" she asked the old man. Ichigo almost choked when he realized what she was planning on doing.

"Go right ahead." He nodded, seeing that this would be something important. Rukia picked up a quill and dipped it into an ink jar. She began to scribble furiously on the paper, drawing small representations that would help her explanation. Once done, she lifted her handy work and showed it to everyone.

"Like I've explained before, Hollows are human souls that have lost their heart." She pointed to a bear with small 'x's floating around it, and the word HOLLOW written underneath. "They eat Plus souls, which are regular deceased humans." She pointed to a bunny with hearts floating around it, and the word PLUS written underneath.

"What the bloody hell kind of drawings are those?" Ron asked; only to get a death glare from Rukia. Dumbledore chuckled good-heartedly as Harry and Hermione shared a look.

"When a Plus doesn't have a lot of reiatsu, Hollows find almost no pleasure in eating them. That's why they go after people like us or like you, who have a higher reiatsu rate."

"What exactly is reiatsu?" Harry asked. Even though she had explained it the first time they met, he hadn't quite understood.

"Reiatsu is spirit energy. It's a little difficult to explain. Every person creates their own reiatsu with its own signature –"

"Unless they don't create reiatsu at all," Renji pointed out. Rukia nodded.

"– and with some practice, you can sense it. It's sort of like hearing. You can hear my voice from over here. I can sense Ichigo's reiatsu coming from over there." The short woman pointed to where Ichigo was standing in the corner. Ichigo scowled, wondering if there was some hidden insult in her words. "Now where was I?"

"Hollows eat Pluses," Renji said.

"Right! But they get tired of eating something tasteless – no offense to Pluses."

"But..." Hermione cut in. "Why do they even _want _to eat Pluses?"

"They eat them to fill the gap that was left when they lost their heart." Everyone looked at her incredulously, unable to understand how something like that could exist. "Of course, it doesn't work. That's why they are never satisfied. Eventually, after being starved for so long without finding any humans that sate their hunger, Hollow turn on each other and begin to devour other Hollow."

A collective horrified gasp rippled through the office.

"And this happens on a massive scale, as Hollows begin to devour each other until eventually they merge into what you saw outside." Everyone sat in silence trying to take in what they had heard. The tension was broken, however, when Rukia pointed at her final drawing: a bunch of bears trying to eat each other, and then finally merging into each other.

Renji burst into fits of laughter.

"T-that's the most terrifying thing I've e-hehe-ever seen, hahaha!" He cried, hugging his stomach.

"Shut up!" Rukia threw her quill at him, succeeding in staining his red hair black.

"By what you've told us," Dumbledore's strong voice stopped them before they could start bickering, "these Hollows are indeed very dangerous creatures. It's a good thing you were sent to protect us now that they have begun increasing in numbers." They all shared a moment of silence as the stopped to ponder his words.

"So..." Ichigo's voice rose unexpectedly. "What are we gonna do about the students? They know about us now."

"I will speak to the students tomorrow morning and tell them exactly what you have told us." The shinigami tensed momentarily. "...That you are here to protect them if the need arises."

OOO

"Do you believe all that stuff they were telling us?" Ron asked his friends once they were back in the Gryffindor Common room.

"Well we did see it right in front of our eyes," Hermione offered.

"But you never know. Those things could have been dementors that were... I dunno, _enhanced_ or something by Voldemort –" Ron and Hermione flinched, "and his cronies."

"Well you do have a good point..." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"You gotta admit though, imagining monsters fighting and _eating_ each other is pretty awesome," Ron joked and he and Harry grinned at each other.

"Ron! Those are human souls you're talking about!" Hermione reprimanded him. She lowered her voice when she noticed a few other students turn their heads in the direction of the corner they were seated in.

"I know, I know! I was just saying..." he mumbled.

"So, what do you guys think we should do?" Harry asked, looking at each of his friends in turn.

"Well, I don't see why we should do anything –" Harry opened his mouth to say something. "_yet_. If they do anything suspicious, then we'll start thinking up strategies. But for now, I don't see a problem." Hermione nodded as if to verify her thoughts once she had finished voicing them.

"'Sides, we've only been here for a few weeks and we didn't hear anything from them until now. Maybe they really are here just to kill those monsters," Ron suggested.

"Maybe. But it doesn't hurt to be on the safe side..." Harry said, lowering his eyes. Ron and Hermione glanced at each other.

"Don't worry Harry." Hermione put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "We'll be alright." He looked up at her and she flashed him a smile. "_All _of us."

OOO

"Kuchiki-san, is it really alright to be telling them all this?" Orihime asked once they were back in their temporary room. Rukia paused what she had been doing.

"Well... usually we try to keep Soul Society a secret from living humans, but I don't see the harm in telling them."

"Hm..."

"Most humans can't see us anyways, so it's not difficult to keep it from them. But since these wizards can all see us, they're bound to find about it sooner or later with this increase in Hollow. I say let them be prepared." Rukia smiled.

"Yeah, I sort of see what you mean... It's just I always thought that if I were a ghost or an angel, then it would be my duty to make sure that humans didn't know about us! And everyone would have a guardian angel that looked out for them, only they wouldn't be able to see them!" The naturally happy and energetic girl started to babble contentedly. "And I would be in charge of making Soul Cakes, which replenish your soul when you're feeling down, and..."

And so her babbling continued as Rukia listened light-heartedly, laughing every now and then.

OOO

"Renji! Get out of there! I need to use the bathroom too!" Ichigo shouted, pounding on the bathroom door.

"Hold on! Blame Rukia, she's the one who threw the ink at my hair!" came the reply. Ichigo glowered at the door, but to no avail.

OOO

Dumbledore sat in his office behind his desk, his fingers steepled in front of his face as he thought.

Indeed, it was a good thing that those shinigami had been sent to protect them. However, he found it odd that there were no records on them and that no one had heard about them before. They seemed to just pop into existence at the perfect moment, right as the Dark Lord has begun to regain his power. He would allow them to stay as they claimed to be there to help, and he would believe them unless he found reason not to. But he would have to be careful around them; they would have to gain his, and the Order's, trust.

OOO

"Taichou, you called for us?" Kiyone Kotetsu asked as she and Sentarou Kotsubaki entered their captain's quarters.

"Yes. I need you to go inform Yamamoto-soutaichou of an important happening," the white haired captain of Squad 13, Ukitake, ordered.

"Has something happened, sir?" Sentarou asked.

"Yes. Humans who previously could not see us have now gained the ability to do so," he said grimly. His 3rd seated officers looked confused. "It means that there is a flux in reiatsu energy in the Living World." He looked his current-acting lieutenants in the eye. "It means that Aizen has begun his next move."

**PHEW! So I hope that was satisfying (because it was for me!) I'm sorry it's so short, but I thought that would be a good place to end before starting the action in the next chapter... Now I just have to PLAN OUT the action... hehe. **

**If you have any ideas, send them in a review.**

**If you DON'T have any ideas, review anyways!**

**OMAKE!**

"Have you guys noticed that the Hollows only started appearing when the shinigami got here?" Harry wondered.

"Well of c_ourse_ Harry! Everyone knows that villains only appear when there is a hero to fight! Otherwise what would be the point?" Hermione answered matter-of-factly.

"...What?"

"Oh come on mate, that's why You-Know-Who attacked you! He got bored of being the villain to no hero," Ron explained.

"Mhmm, he needed a nemesis," Hermione continued.

"...right..." Harry said, backing away from his friends.

**HAHA that was lame. But this is basically what went through my head as I was writing the story. So, don't forget to R and R... noooo, not rest and relaxation! **


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